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A Note From The Director
Dear Parents,
There are many exciting things on the horizon here at Discovery! We have our annual Halloween Event with open play, art projects, and raffles for ages 6 months to four years. I am also teaching a new Halloween themed dance class for ages 19 months through 36 months. I love practicing Monster Mash, Thriller and costume-themed dances with the children. Both events will take place on Halloween! Call 212-749-8717 for more details.
Now that we are open on some Sundays for Team practice, we will also be doing special workshops and clinics. Cheerleading Clinics are coming up for three Sundays in November. See our interview below with Coach Chasity, who will be leading the cheer clinics. We will be also be doing Tumbling workshops and a special Sunday Parents Afternoon Out event in December, which will be a mini-gymnastics camp including pizza and a craft to help parents have a little free time before the hustle of the holidays.
We are looking forward to these new events and we hope to expand our programming to include cheer and tumbling in the future.
Warm Wishes,
Katie Kheel
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Interview with Chasity, Gymnastics and Cheer Coach!
This month we are interviewing Coach Chasity, who has been a gymnastics coach at Discovery for almost a year, but also has a background in cheerleading. She is running a Cheerleading Clinic next month, more details below!
What inspired you to become a coach?
The fact that I can inspire younger individuals and be a good role model for them. What inspired me to become a coach I think is just the thrill of teaching children. I love it and I adore them!
What’s your favorite part about working with your students?
The progress. I love the fact that they grow with me, they learn, and that’s something that’s embedded in their heads. They’ll never forget who taught them how to do a cartwheel or who taught them the process of doing a forward roll. The smiles they have on their faces after they complete a task is amazing.
We are excited to have our first Cheerleading Clinic this November! What do you hope students gain from that?
I would love to have a full Discovery cheer team where we compete. I want to incorporate a good cheer team so that they know the difference between gymnastics and cheer. It’s a lot of dancing and stunting.
What is stunting?
Stunting requires teamwork, a lot of listening skills, and it is hands-on. We have all different types of stunts: 4 in a stunt, 5 in a stunt, we usually have a back spotter, two bases, a flyer. If we’re at the beginning stages, I always put a front spotter as well so that everyone is secure from the start. Everyone has to work as a team to put the flyer in the air.
What will your Cheer Clinic look like?
When you’re coaching cheer we have to go by basics first, so the first thing we have to focus on is warm ups. We do a lot of jumping jacks and similar warm ups to gymnastics. I’ll start with motions: high Vs, Ts, Ls, and touchdowns. After motions, I’ll teach them a basic cheer on the floor and then we’ll get into the dancing portion. They need to feel it first before they can even start to think about stunting. Dance, cheer, and floor are all separate events, but you incorporate it all in one. Based on a team, a lot of things will be going on at the same time just like putting together bars, beam, and vault in gymnastics. For the cheer clinic, I would like to break it down and mix at least two events into each day. The last day I want to incorporate everything together and create a mini routine. I’ll do a mini cheer, a couple of flips or a floor routine, and stunting with some music.
What is your advice for young gymnasts?
My advice for young gymnasts is to not feel discouraged. Don’t feel as if you can’t do something. You can do anything if you put your mind to it. Sometimes it takes longer than others, but keep moving forward, push yourself harder, and never stop trying. If this is your passion and what you love, go for it. You never know, you might become a coach, too.
What do you hope to teach your students both inside and out of the gym?
They’re going to know how it feels to be structured, to put a routine together, 8 counts, and why it’s important to stretch before any type of sport they do. I’m going to always teach them that no matter what, expect the unexpected and go forward. You never know where it can take you, as long as you just follow your dream. They’re going to always remember that. The energy you bring is always going to feed off in a positive way.
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Photo Op: Back to School!
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Discovery Announcements!
Spots Still Available in Fall Classes:
It’s not too late to register. There are still a number of spots left and you can even add a class. We are offering a 45% discount off of the second class for toddlers under age four for morning classes only before 12:00pm.
Fall Semester Closing Dates
-October 21, 22
-November 28-30
-December 23-31
-January 1-3, 20
Nutcracker Save the Date: Sunday, December 8th at 11:00am. There will be one show only this year! Details to come soon.
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discovery programs 2024